Weight Watchers' Sausage and Pepper Pasta

Weight Watchers Eye-talian (Italian) Sausage and Pepper Pasta

Course: main meals
PointsPlus™ Value:    7
Servings:  6
Preparation Time:  15 min
Cooking Time:  25 min
Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Spicy sausage, red wine and fire-roasted tomatoes come together in this ragout-like sauce. Truly hearty and satisfying

Weight Loss Motivation... 7 Reasons Why I'm Still Wearing a DAMN Size 14!

Alright already, I need to get this party started and stop dragging my dayum feet. At this point in the weight loss game, size 10s or 8s should be hanging in my closet! I know what I need to do, but my brain and my stomach continue to battle for control! To help myself get it together I composed the following list of reasons why the size 10s still elude ME:

SAME blog, NEW look!

Last week, I impulsively decided to get a blog makeover.  I tried to redesign my blog myself a few times, but it took FOREVER to figure out the in and outs of blog designing. It took me 2 DAYS to design my previous header.  

For several months I searched for a blog designer, a reasonably priced blog designer...but to no avail I found a bunch of high priced designers.  I gave up my search, but thanks to Toot at Wonderfully Complex, I found Jen from Just Foolin Blog Designs.

Since I decided on a whim to make some necessary and much needed changes, I had absolutely, positively, no idea of what I wanted. Jen sprung into action and suggested the pic you see in the header!  I quickly grabbed my camera, turned my dining area into a portrait studio, and started snapping away. In no time Jen created a mock-up for me to see! She works FAST!

And  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, my Facebook and Twitter badges!! LOVE IT!! And my blog  button...SUPER JAZZY. I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! The video below describes exactly how I feel about my new look!!

Make sure you grab my button, it's FREE!! 

I plan to make a few more changes and then my new look will be complete! FYI, iPhone and iPad  users, the blue background does not show up. As much as I love sitting here yammering on and on about my new look, I really want to finish watching Season 1 of TRUE BLOOD...FANGBANGIN TIME!

THANKS AGAIN JEN!

DANCING QUEEN! I CAN'T BELIEVE I NEVER POSTED THIS!

I strongly believe in the power of dance! I dance EVERYWHERE: in the car, in the kitchen while cooking, at the gas station pump, in the mall, in the street, during after-school dismissal duty, at the park while jogging, EVERYWHERE!

Dancing enhances my life in so many ways:

• Dancing provides an opportunity to squeeze in some cardio and burn calories. Sometimes at red lights, I activate my Polar to see how many calories I burn while waiting for the light to change.  

YES, I dance in the car, and YES people see ME!  My fave red light tunes: SINGLE LADIES by BEYONCE, FIREWORKS by KATY PERRY, SOMEBODY TO LOVE by J. BEIBS, and FOREVER by CHRIS BROWN! 

• Dancing adds excitement to my day!
• Dancing offers a creative outlet for me to express myself! 
• And the best thing about DANCING...IT'S FREE! YOU CAN DANCE ANYWHERE FOR FREE! G'HEAD...BUST A MOVE!!!

Speaking of dancing,  the other day I ran across the video posted below, and I thought to myself, "I CAN'T BELIEVE I NEVER POSTED THIS!" 2 summers ago my boys talked me into taking a Mommy & Me class, well in my case Mommy & MEs. Despite much apprehension about participating, I...well we, thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and I even burned a few calories! Without further adieu...

Did you see my sweet moves? And can you believe when I do dance, my boys have the audacity tell me, "MOM, sit down! Where do they think their talent comes from? Heeellloooo...ME! You know the saying:

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!"

My apples received all of their talent from this tree. The first video features my oldest showcasing his choreography skills from a class he taught last week:

The next video showcases my youngest...the comedian.

So, now I challenge YOU! Shoot a video of yourself busting a move (e.g. running man, cabbage patch, robo-cop, the wop, dougie, wheelchair stuntin, etc) and then post the video on your blog!

I CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH...The Truth About Tracking!

NO...I CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH...the truth about the foods I eat, well the truth about the bad food choices I make. When I choose poorly, I conveniently forget to TRACK. Why do I conveniently forget to TRACK? I don't want to face the truth.

I Got What I Deserved!

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! It took many tries, but I finally remembered my Blogger password and user name. I bet, if I blogged more than once a month I would remember. Anywho....

So folks, I got what I deserved! Plain and simple, I tried to buy some donuts in a vending machine...

 and....well the donuts refused to budge from their home. 

I placed my dollar in the mouth of the vending machine, my money disappeared and in return I received nada, zilch, zero, nunca! BUT I GOT WHAT I DESERVED! I HAD NO BUSINESS BUYING DONUTS IN THE FIRST PLACE! Lesson learned? 


EVERYDAY I STRUGGLE!

Introducing my..."I KNOW I CAN!"

Happy Easter Y'all! You already know, when my blog posts begin to slack...my fight to stay in control rages ON! And rather than blog, I suffer in silence. Yes folks, I still continue to struggle with staying on track and focused on my goals. I desperately need a motivation makeover. Lately, I seem to long for that January 1st New Year's spark that ignites my enthusiasm and discipline in regards to attending meetings, tracking my points, and measuring my portions. Truth be told, I missed my weigh-in and meetings two weeks in a row:-(

Despite my waning motivation, I do know one thing, I MUST PERSEVERE! If you recall, my 20 year reunion looms around the corner, August 6th to be exact! HELP! Does anyone have a cure for my low motivation diagnosis? 

In efforts to refocus, I try to remind myself to "KEEP MY EYES ON THE PRIZE!" I also need to keep in mind that moments of low-mo (low motivation) may creep up from time to time. When the going gets tough, I need to recall how good success feels! By success, I am referring to my non-scale victories or THINGS I CAN DO, that people sometimes take for granted: like cartwheeling in freshly cut grass, keeping up with my son while playing Just Dance2, jogging/walking 6 miles, resisting popcorn and candy at the movies, etc.!

To help cure my latest case of  low-mo I created my I KNOW I CAN! HOW CUTE IS THAT?!?!

I use my I KNOW I CAN to remind myself of what I CAN DO NOW after losing 50+ lbs.

YES, I  PLAN TO SALE MY "I KNOW I CANS!"

What CAN you do?

A New Weight Loss Tool for My Toolbox...

Before I share my new toy, I wanted to thank everyone for the glowing compliments and comments from my GOT MILF? post. I forgot to share the most integral part of my ensemble...DUH, my shoes! 

 I love these shoes, but every time I wear them I commit SHOEicide. By the end of the night my swollen right ankle throbbed in pain. Any who, moving on.


So several weeks ago, during my blog hiatus my mom and I ordered THIS from Crate & Barrel:

THE TAYLOR DIGITAL SCALE WITH MEASURING CUP

A food scale plays an important role in my efforts to exercise portion control. I previously owned a Weight Watchers food scale, but one unfortunate evening my scale took a tumble to the floor and the glass platform shattered. Weighing my food helps me alleviate my portion distortion. With certain foods (e.g. meat), I can eyeball the appropriate portion size. While other trigger foods (i.e. chips, crackers. cereal, cheese, etc) must be measured to prevent me from losing control and eating more than the recommended portion size.

With my new digital scale and measuring cup combination,  I love the ability to weigh both liquids and/or dry food. For those of you without a scale, I am by no means a weight loss expert, but using a weight loss scale can serve as an important tool to help you stay on track within your Weight Watchers points budget. 

Here's one last look at my new toy:

What weight loss tool(s) do you use to stay on track?

GOT MILF?

I would love to take credit for my witty post title, but...I ripped the title off from an email I received from Spark People. I originally planned to title this post " O NO SHE DI'INT!" Instead I opted for GOT MILF...get it?


Okay, so I rocked this ensemble last month at a quince I attended (BEST QUINCE EVER!). When I arrived on the scene the young men my kids dance with whipped their head around, and then proceeded to  hoot and holler about HOW HOT I LOOKED! And I quote: "DANG MS. GAINES WOOOO HOOOO! YOU LOOK HOT!  OOOOO MS. GAINES! GOOOOOO MS. GAINES!"


I let the dance crew carry on for several minutes and I loved every second of it! Check me out...MILF in da hizzy!

My boys participated in the quince and performed with their dance crew.

Okay, so back to me...check out the jacket. You like? Well let me tell you the back story.

GIMME AN M...M! GIMME AN E...E! GOOOOOOOOOOO ME!

I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! WAAAAZZZZUUUUUUUP!?!? Once again, I fell of the proverbial weight loss wagon and hid from the scale for about 3 weeks (maybe more). Last Saturday I finally decided to MAN UP and weigh in! GUESS WHAT...I ONLY gained .8 lbs., not even a whole lb. That minuscule gain tells me...even though I get off track (more often than I'd like) my healthy lifestyle changes help me keep my bad habits and weight in check.  Just think what would happen if I consistently applied myself!  

Every now and then I experience weight loss setbacks and lose sight of my goals and objectives.  SO...what's the best thing to do when setbacks occur? For me, I like to reflect on my accomplishments, and focus on all the things I CAN DO NOW! In other words..CHEER MYSELF ON! GOOOOO MEEEEEEEEEE!